DIY Electrical Installations

[Martinco]

Now here is some interesting information I picked up yesterday.

A friend was busy doing some renovations in his office and we started talking about down lighters etc. and he told me the following:
A friend of his went to OZ to visit his daughter and she asked him to add some down lights in her lounge.
The guy said "no problem" and headed for their local large store ( read Makro ) and filled his trolley with all the stuff he would require to do the job.
When he got to the checkout, the assistant asked him for his wiremans license as the goods in the trolley clearly indicated that he was going to do an electrical job.
The outcome was that he was not able to buy certain goods without a wiremans license.

I got the above info as the truth but if anybody knows any better, please correct me. ( Maybe members from OZ )

[Sparks]

Now THAT in SA would make the perfect Xmas gift for me

[Dave A]

It's an interesting one alright.

The problem with implementing it in South Africa is that the regs require the following when it comes to who may do work on an electrical installation:

4. (2) Except in the case of electrical installations supplied by a single phase electricity supply at the point of supply, an accredited person shall exercise general control over all electrical installation work being carried out and no person shall allow such work without such control.

so if one was asked for the responsible wireman here, you'd just have to bat your eyelids and say it's for an installation with a single phase supply.

(I guess that wouldn't work if you were buying three phase components ).

[Leecatt]

It's an interesting one alright.

The problem with implementing it in South Africa is that the regs require the following when it comes to who may do work on an electrical installation:
4. (2) Except in the case of electrical installations supplied by a single phase electricity supply at the point of supply, an accredited person shall exercise general control over all electrical installation work being carried out and no person shall allow such work without such control.

so if one was asked for the responsible wireman here, you'd just have to bat your eyelids and say it's for an installation with a single phase supply.

(I guess that wouldn't work if you were buying three phase components ).

Good morning Dave.
Would you please point me to where you obtained that paragraph 4.2
I have looked in the 2009 regs as well as the electrical installation rules and cannot find it

[Dave A]

Aah - I was looking at the old, now outdated regs and I stand corrected (my sincere apologies ).

The situation has changed since and the applicable section per the 2009 regs is:

5 (4) A registered person shall exercise general control over all electrical installation work being carried out, and no person may allow such work without such control.

So yes - it looks like there's no legal impediment to linking purchases of electrical installation kit to there being a registered person associated.

Time to make it happen?

[Sparks]

Even so, the public have no knowledge of the regs. If it were still applicable they would be none the wiser :-)

[Dave A]

I think the success of the gate motor plug point campaign is a clue - getting a clear message out to the industry and its suppliers goes a long way. Obviously some press releases to general publications won't hurt. But a message that "the responsible thing to do is ensure there's a registered person linked to the purchase" would be a good start as an awareness campaign.

Just to double check an issue - this looks like it even applies to maintenance repairs / replacement of components. Is that correct, or am I missing some fine print somewhere?

[Martinco]

Just to double check an issue - this looks like it even applies to maintenance repairs / replacement of components. Is that correct, or am I missing some fine print somewhere?

Dave,

where would the line be drawn................replacing a burned out globe, would that be seen as component replacement ?

[Dave A]

Replacing globes should be fine (at least on most occassions - I can think of some interesting locations where it might be an issue). By my understanding the fun would start with the replacement of light fittings.

But I've already put my foot in it once in this thread - let's see what the wiremen think.

[ians]

Even the electrical wholesalers deal directly with the public, i am busy with a situation where my customer went to the wholesaler, got the saleman to make up a quote of all the components required to do a small project and gave him a quote. Now the customer has given me the list and requested a quote. I went to the same wholesaler (Voltex) and gave them the list, the prices for my customer and to me are the same price and i am a registered electrical contractor. So how on earth would you regulate the sale of goods, if you cant even get the electrical wholsealers to control sales directly to the public.